The Star Trek: Discovery season 5 premiere has a legacy Star Trek connection you won’t see chasing you down. “Red Directive” was written by Michelle Paradise and directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi.
“Red Directive”
Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) is riding on top of a starship at warp. Over comms, she relays her status to Saru (Doug Jones). She states she plans to retrieve something stolen from a vault. A warning announces imminent warp failure. Burnham says this wasn’t what she expected when the night started.
Four hours earlier, Michael is at a soiree at Federation Headquarters. She’s chatting with USS Discovery crewmembers Paul Stamets (Anthony Rapp), Hugh Culber (Wilson Cruz) and Adira (Blu del Barrio). Also present is former crewmember and now Starfleet Academy professor Sylvia Tilly (Mary Wiseman). They’re celebrating the millennial(ish) anniversary with “Tonic 2161” cocktails. It’s revealed that the Spore Drive program is being shuttered. Stamets laments his legacy’s destruction. Things get awkward when Stamets mentions Cleveland “Book” Booker (David Ajala). But Burnham is pulled away to meet President Rillak (Chelah Horsdal).
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Saru is dancing with T’Rina (Tara Rosling). He tells her that Rillak has asked him to become a Federation ambassador, assigned to a coalition of smaller worlds. T’Rina agrees this is wise, and will hopefully deter more worlds from becoming part of the Tholian Republic or the Breen Imperium. The position will require Saru to resign his commission. However, this means he’ll be able to see T’Rina more. T’Rina suggests he make the decision without considering her as a variable.
Burnham approaches Admiral Vance (Oded Fehr). He hands her a small infinity symbol and tells her the party’s over.
Black Alert + Red Directive
Soon Vance and Burnham are standing in the all-white Infinity Room with Kovich (David Cronenberg). Vance explains an 800-year-old science vessel has been discovered at the edge of the Beta Quadrant. Kovich is coy about what this is. But he insists it’s “vital to the security of the Federation.” He classifies this as a “Red Directive.” Burnham will gather her crew.
On Discovery’s bridge, Saru receives status reports from Linus (David Benjamin Tomlinson), Owosekun (Oyin Oladejo) and Rhys (Patrick Kwok-Choon) as Keyla Detmer (Emily Coutts) takes the helm. Burnham arrives on the bridge with Kovich. She states that they’re hopping to an uninhabited planet. There they’ll investigate the abandoned Romulan vessel.
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Two individuals in identity-concealing EV suits beam onto the abandoned Romulan vessel. They begin scanning objects. Then they remove their helmets and are revealed to be Moll (Eve Harlow) and L’ak (Elias Toufexis). An energy signal directs them towards the object “Starfleet doesn’t want [them] to have.” Meanwhile, Discovery approaches. Scans detect two life signs. But they promptly disappear. Kovich suggests lethal force. The ship must be secured by any means necessary.
Soon Michael, Owo and Rhys beam aboard the ship in EV suits. Searching for the two individuals, they find a near-mummified Romulan corpse. They locate the vault and find it empty. However, they determine their quarry must be present because of the complex nature of Romulan encryption. They fire phasers, causing Moll and L’ak to reveal themselves. Fire is exchanged. Owo and Rhys are incapacitated. Moll and L’ak escape, leaving a bomb that ejects Burnham from the ship.
Tractor Factor
Fortunately, Burnham’s 32nd century spacesuit automatically activates. She ends up on top of the thieves’ decloaking ship. As the ship jumps to warp, Michael remains standing on the roof. The ship is intercepted by Captain Rayner (Callum Keith Rennie) and his ship, the USS Antares. The Antares‘ tractor beam activates, targeting the thieves’ ship. This causes the warp bubble to begin collapsing.
Indy vibes. Photo Credit: Marni Grossman/Paramount+
Michael and Rayner begin arguing about the tractor beam. Discovery arrives, and Saru instructs the crew to prepare to beam Burnham aboard. Kovich refuses to leave the bridge. Rayner finally releases the tractor beam. Burnham lets go of the ship just before they both drop out of warp. The ship launches dummy probes before jumping to warp again. The probes create 20 different warp signatures traveling in different directions. They’ve escaped.
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Burnham says she knows someone who can find them. Discovery travels by spore drive to a new location. They’re picking up Book. As they walk through the halls, Book and Burnham speculate that the thieves could be former couriers, based on their tactics. Burnham says she’s sorry. Book observes it’s been a while. He’s been working to atone to the Federation for the events of season 4.
In the ready room, Rayner shares intel on Moll and L’ak. Burnham states that they lifted a Romulan puzzle box from the ship. However, they still don’t know what’s inside. Kovich won’t share more information. Book helps assess where the pair might have gone. He concludes a dealer on Q’Mau, “Fred,” loves old artifacts. Vance orders Rayner, Burnham and Book on an investigative mission. Burnham pulls Saru aside for guidance. He suggests someone outside of Discovery’s chain of command may have better access to intel.
Better Off Fred
In her quarters, Tilly flirts with a love interest. When things heat up too much, she dismisses him. She replicates coffee before Burnham contacts her by comm. Burnham needs Tilly’s help, and Tilly’s in. Elsewhere, Discovery arrives at Q’Mau by spore drive. It’s a desert planet. Burnham and Book beam to the city outskirts. Book says Grudge is doing great. Rayner beams in too and they walk towards their destination.
Photo Credit: Grossman /Paramount+
Meanwhile, Moll and L’ak meet Fred (J. Adam Brown), who is a Soong type android. They offer him a few other older items before revealing the puzzle box. This last object catches Fred’s attention. They ask if he can open it. Fred’s swift hands quickly solve the puzzle and open the box. Inside is a book, which Fred reads equally quickly. He declares the book in good condition. Fred offers a price for the objects. When Moll and L’ak decline and request the items be returned, Fred declines. They pair dispatch Fred’s guards. Fred scores a glancing shot on Moll. This causes L’ak to grow enraged. He shoots Fred several times.
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Elsewhere, Burnham, Book and Rayner navigate the market. They locate Fred’s establishment and take in the damage caused by Moll and L’ak. Rayner splits off and leaves against Burnham’s advice. Burnham has Saru beam Fred up so as to scan his memory. She also says any family he has should be notified.
Burnham and Book speculate on where Moll and L’ak would head next. They conclude their ship must be parked outside the city. The best way to access it would be sand runners.
Dead Fred
Aboard Discovery, Fred’s memory is scanned in sick bay. Hugh notes that this tech is several generations before the kind used for Gray Tal’s body. After determining Fred’s serial number pays homage to Altan Soong, Stamets reflects on his legacy. But thanks to Stamets’ packrat nature, they already have the ancient hardware necessary to manually access Fred’s positronic brain.
On Q’Mau, Rayner reports that Moll and L’ak are escaping on sand runners. Book and Burnham catch up with him, having rented three runners already. Rayner takes off, followed by Book and Burnham. At HQ, Tilly’s hacking into a secure Federation database is interrupted by the arrival of security. But then Vance interrupts the interrupters. Vance determines Burnham tasked Tilly with the intel gathering. But Vance approves of Tilly’s action, executing the algorithm himself.
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This causes a hologram of a Romulan scientist to appear. The scientist says his knowledge of an ancient, powerful technology cannot be lost. He continues that he hid an artifact “in the shadow of twin moons.” Further, he says the power cannot fall into the wrong hands. On Q’Mau, the pursuit continues. Burnham says they have to intercept Moll and L’ak before they reach their ship. Rayner pulls ahead. However, the thieves reach their ship anyway. They take off and begin firing at the runners. Rather than head to orbit, the ship heads towards the mountain tunnel system that might help them escape.
Owo’s scan reveals one of the caves has an explosive charge at its mouth. This will allow them to close the door behind them, evading pursuit. Rayner suggests blowing the bomb from here, taking away their escape route. Burnham is concerned this may cause an avalanche.
Avalanche!
Burnham wants to allow them to escape and scan them from there. Rayner orders his ship to fire on the bomb. It detonates and causes a small collapse. Inspired by this action, Moll and L’ak arm proton torpedoes and fire at the mountain. This causes a large-scale avalanche. Our heroes flee on their runners. But there is not enough time to evacuate the city before the avalanche’s arrival.
In Discovery’s spore department, Adira and Stamets toss potential solutions around. They conceive of a plan in which both Discovery and Antares use their shields to protect the settlement from the avalanche. Kovich is unhappy about Discovery directing energy towards rescue rather than tracking. Rayner begrudgingly agrees to the plan.
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The runners approach the city as Discovery and Antares appear above. A pair of civilians are spotted in the path of the avalanche. Burnham provides their precise coordinates so they can be beamed away. The Discovery and Antares dig their noses into the sand. Their shields are effective in deterring the avalanche. The city’s denizens celebrate their survival. However, Moll and L’ak escape without incident. Rayner beams away.
Book tells Burnham he’s glad they got another mission together. They agree that they should have called each other. Burnham says she’s not sure how to be around Book anymore. They acknowledge that they both have things that are hard to move beyond. But Tilly interrupts with an update that includes some “wild” answers.
Red Directive Decisions
T’Rina watches as Discovery arrives back at Federation HQ. Saru beams in beside her. T’Rina is concerned for Saru’s welfare. Saru shares the experience on Q’Mau. He continues if he were to face imminent death, he would only think of T’Rina. Saru concludes he must consider their relationship as he considers his future. He says that while Discovery is his home and family, so too is T’Rina, and so much more. Saru concludes he will accept the ambassador position. T’Rina asks Saru to marry her.
Photo Credit: Gibson/Paramount+
Burnham arrives in sick bay. Stamets informs her that the download was successful and they got a good look at the diary as Fred paged through it. Burnham spots an image of a planet with two moons and determines its location. Soon she’s beamed to Kovich’s location. She tells Kovich he’s looking for the wrong planet. However, Kovich is still loath to share information.
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Kovich says the Red Directive is bigger than him and has been classified for centuries. But Burnham wants to remain on the mission. Kovich says maybe it’s best that Vance couldn’t stop Tilly. He deactivates the hologram and reveals his quarters.
Kovich explains that the Romulan was an important scientist. He was present when Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) found the message left by the Progenitors in Star Trek: The Next Generation season 3, “The Chase.”
Star Trek: Discovery joins The Chase
Kovich explains that the Progenitors were the origin of life in our galaxy. The tech they used to create life was located by the Romulan scientist. This information is the object of their quarry. Burnham shares that they believe they have located the planet with the two moons. Kovich tells Burnham that the greatest treasure in the galaxy is out there and asks her what she’s waiting for. “Let’s fly,” says Burnham.
RELATED: Catch up with all of our Star Trek: Discovery recaps by clicking here.
The first two episodes of Star Trek: Discovery are currently available for streaming on Paramount+, with new episodes on Thursdays.
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